year 10 social and personal capability student …€¦ · web viewyear 10 unit: leading my...

| NSW Department of Education

Year 10 unit: Leading my learningTeacher support resource

Duration of UnitThis unit can be used in Term 4 of Year 10. Each activity should take approximately one period but this may change according to context and differentiation needs.

Overview of this learningIn order to become leaders of their own learning, students must understand themselves both as learners and as leaders. This unit supports teachers with building students’ capacity through elements of ACARA’s personal and social capabilities: self-awareness, self-management and social-awareness.

These activities aim to help students build skills in metacognition and self-regulation. By reflecting on how they think and learn, students build self-awareness, become better learners and learn to self-regulate their behaviours.

Evidence shows a connection between self-regulated learning and academic performance. Students who can regulate their learning are proposed to gain the most out of education, because their motivations and strategies are focused on learning rather than on receiving external rewards.

Before you startBefore starting the unit, explain to the students what the outcomes are. These are found on page 2 of the student workbook. You could print out the ACARA General capabilities, Personal and Social Capability learning continuum to contextualise the social and emotional learning for the students.

Read the teaching notes for each activity before starting to teach it. There are objectives, explanations, suggested answers, things for you to read out and ‘key takeaways’ that you need to share with the students. The activities are to be done sequentially.

Reflections are included in most of the activities. This has been done to help students think about their thinking as well as provide feedback on the learning to both the students and teachers. It also supports their progression on the personal and social capability

education.nsw.gov.au

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/media/1078/general-capabilities-personal-and-social-capability-learning-continuum.pdf

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/personal-and-social-capability/

learning continuum, which states that by the end of Year 10, students are expected to develop reflective practice and ‘reflect on feedback from peers, teachers and other adults, to analyse personal characteristics and skill sets that contribute to or limit their personal and social capability’.

Feedback and reflection gives students the opportunity to: communicate their needs and understandings practice self-reflection and better understand their learning needs have a more active role in their learning suggest modifications and enhancements to teaching and learning programs.

Consistently creating opportunities for feedback and reflection develops student voice and responsibility for learning. This is supported by research. Find out more here and here. Information about reflection and feedback as a learning mode can be found here.

Reflection activities: Students are to complete the reflections in silence either in-class (if time permits) or at home. After completing the reflection, students need the opportunity to share their thinking. When and how this happens can be adjusted according to your context. For example, this can be done at the end of the period or at the start of the next period, it can be with one peer, the teacher or as a whole class activity.

Activity 1: The value of positive self-talkObjective: This activity aims to help students become aware of their ‘internal monologue’; their thinking and self-talk. By becoming aware of this, they can practice positive self-talk. Negative self-talk can erode self-esteem and hinders students’ success.

Key message: Most people love compliments. It’s nice to hear that someone noticed something positive about you and values you. But in the long term, relying on external praise to feel good about yourself can mean that you come to rely on other people’s approval. Your self-esteem shouldn’t just be based on others but on your own opinion of yourself. This is why positive self-talk is so important. In the next lesson we will be talking about character strengths. Do some research on what ‘character strengths’ means and what yours could be.

Reflection activity As it’s the first reflection, the answers may not be very detailed. Ask them whether it

was hard to write a reflection and let them know that as there are reflection tasks throughout the unit, they will build their skill in doing them.

Ask students to share answers to the last two questions to help everyone learn strategies. Suggested answers include:

2 Year 10 “Leading my learning” teacher resource

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/school-learning-environments-and-change/future-focused-learning-and-teaching/learning-modes/feedback-and-reflection

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/media/1078/general-capabilities-personal-and-social-capability-learning-continuum.pdf

o Where can I get support to help me see myself in a more positive way? Friends, family, teachers and yourself. By learning and believing in your strengths, you can build up your self-esteem.

o How can I help myself to see myself in a more positive light? Monitor your thinking. Are you practicing positive or negative self-talk? Be mindful about this. Be kind to yourself.

Activity 2: Knowing my strengthsACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to recognise personal qualities and achievements and ‘assess their strengths and challenges and devise personally appropriate strategies to achieve future success’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Key message: Everyone has strengths. Knowing them is essential for building self-esteem and helps you achieve your goals.

Objective: This activity aims to make student aware of their strengths.

Students need to harness the power of their most positive traits to achieve the following:

improve relationships

enhance overall wellbeing

strengthen the ability to overcome problems (building resilience)

If students have problems establishing or identifying their strengths, they can do a reputable evidence-based survey such as the VIA character strengths survey.

Reflection activity Discuss the reflection with the students either one-on-one or as a group. Suggested

answers include:o How can my character strengths enhance my learning? Practicing and using

your strengths can help you achieve your goals.o What character strength do I most admire in others and why? Sometimes we

admire strengths in others that we want to build in ourselves. For example, someone who is not naturally optimistic, but wants to be, would admire optimism in others. Ask them to reflect on why they admire it and how they could build it in themselves.

© NSW Department of Education

Homework activity: Practicing my strengthsObjective: This activity aims to help students learn how to build their strengths.

Key message: It’s not enough just to have strengths. You have to enact them! Just like practicing the piano, a dance or some other skill you want to build, practicing your strengths will enhance them. It also helps other people identify your strength if you practice it. It’s wonderful to be known for your strengths.

Reflection activity: Ask the students, “Did you find that the more you practiced your strength, the more it benefited you? The opposite? Something else?” Encourage them to choose another strength next week and practice that (with the view that this becomes a habit).

Activity 3: Managing what other people seeACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to understand relationships and ‘explain how relationships differ between peers, parents, teachers and other adults, and identify the skills needed to manage different types of relationships’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Objective: This activity aims to build social awareness in understanding relationships.

Key message: The most important thing is caring about what you think about yourself. However, it’s ok to care what other people think about you. It’s nice to get compliments. But you can’t rely on other people saying nice things to feel good about yourself. This must come from within you.

Watch: “You’re Wonderful”

Watch: “You’re Wonderful too”

Note: These videos are part of the NSW Anti-bullying strategy. More information at: https://antibullying.nsw.gov.au/

Activity: After watching the videos, students do a self-assessment about the visibility of their strengths. For homework, they do the same activity with someone they trust.

Optional activity: Paper fans - instructions for this are in the student workbooks.

Reflection activity: Ask the students to reflect about how they can make their strengths more visible to others. Write up a summary of their ideas on the whiteboard.


https://antibullying.nsw.gov.au/

https://youtu.be/oLp9Rls-ycs

https://youtu.be/ZoNfszh7NxU

Activity 4: Recognising my emotions

ACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to recognise emotions and ‘reflect critically on their emotional responses to challenging situations in a wide range of learning, social and work-related contexts’ and express emotions appropriately and ‘consider, control and justify their emotional responses, in expressing their opinions, beliefs, values, questions and choices’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Objective: This activity aims to have students think about their emotions and monitor how they react in different situations. This is developed further in Activity 7.

Key message: There are no good or bad emotions, but there are good and bad ways of expressing emotions. Being able to notice how you’re feeling is very important because it can help you understand why you feel a certain way. Emotional awareness simply means recognising, respecting, and accepting your feelings as they happen.

The next activity explores whether you have similar reactions in different contexts and how you can harness your strengths to support your emotional self-regulation. The capacity to regulate emotional responses is a skill that needs to be learned so that we control our behaviour, not our emotions.

Activity 5: My strengths in different contextsACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to understand relationships and ‘explain how relationships differ between peers, parents, teachers and other adults, and identify the skills needed to manage different types of relationships’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Objective: This activity aims to build social awareness in understanding relationships. The students are also asked to see how their identified strengths can be used to enhance each role and whether their positive behaviours can be generalised across the roles.

Key message: Read the following with the students and asked them to summarise it in one sentence (if they can) and write it at the bottom of the page.

The kindness you always show to your grandmother is the same kindness you can show to your friends. The team-work you show in your weekend job is the same team work you can bring to the classroom. Recognising that some of your roles bring out different strengths in you can help you generalise them across roles. (What does this mean? Generalisation refers to the ability to be able to transfer skills and knowledge learned to other settings, people and activities. For example, someone taught you to say “thank you”


at home when you were a child and you transferred that to other people and environments – for example, thanking someone for helping you carry something heavy).

Activity 6: Practicing self-careObjective: This activity aims to help students about the importance of self-care. Self-care involves determining what is most important in your life and being proactive to improve your situation.

Students complete a questionnaire and self-assess what they are doing well and what they aspire to improve. The ‘draw a picture’ activity is optional.

Reflection activity: Ask the students to commit to improving one aspect of self-care. Give some strategies on how they could do this for example, find a friend with a similar goal and have them support each other.

Key message: (Read this to students) Self-care is more than taking 15 minutes to do nothing every day. It’s a lifestyle choice and a commitment to living healthily. True self-care is prioritising your mental, physical, and emotional health to have a more complete and balanced life. Commit to improving one or more areas to achieve balance to your life!

Activity 7: Building resilienceACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to become confident, resilient and adaptable and ‘evaluate, rethink and refine approaches to tasks to take account of unexpected or difficult situations and safety considerations’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Objective: This activity aims to help students understand what resilience is and focus on a time in their lives that they were resilient.

Activity and reflection activity: The students are given a list of things they can do to develop resilience. You might want to consider sharing a personal (but not too personal) story about resilience that the students can understand and connect to, for example, “I was on a holiday in Thailand and I got really sick and was too sick to fly. All my friends had gone back to Sydney the day before – one of them had accidentally taken all my stuff including my passport, my wallet and my phone. I had to go a day with no money and food but finally found a way to get to the Australian Embassy and made it back home. I met some nice tourists who lent me their phones so I could get some stuff emailed straight to the embassy. It was a hungry, horrible few days but I kept reminding myself that I was going to be ok, it was just temporary and that going to the Embassy to get a new passport would be a good solution.” This story should be amended to meet your specific context.


The students have to think of a time when they were faced with a difficult situation and how they coped. As it might be a painful memory, it may not be something they feel comfortable writing down or sharing with the group. Give students a choice – perhaps they just want to think about it themselves. They don’t have to write it down, they could share it with the group, or if they don’t want to do that, they can just tell one person.

Key message: If we never have disappointments, we never learn how to deal with them. You are more resilient than you know. This is a good opportunity to think on how you can build on your personal resilience.

Activity 8: My learning preferencesACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to understand themselves as learners and ‘evaluate the effectiveness of commonly used learning strategies and work practices and refine these as required’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Objective: This activity aims to stimulate thought and discussion about using a range of strategies to learn and study.

The activity uses the VARK strategies (Visual learning, auditory learning, reading and writing learning and kinaesthetic learning).

Key message: Current research shows that VARK shows you how you like to communicate but not necessarily what your strengths lie in. Try a range of different strategies when studying at home. When you have choice in how you present information try to combine how you like doing it (to keep your interest and motivation levels up) with what your strengths are in (to keep your marks up).

Encourage students to try new ways as well – they may find strengths they didn’t even know they had. Also risk-taking in learning is very important.

Reflection activity: Students need to think about what strategies they use.

Why is it useful to use more than one?

How could this be used to help you study more effectively?

It’s useful to use more than one because you may find strengths you didn’t even know you had. It makes it more interesting to study when they are using a variety of different styles. For example, if you need to learn quotes from a play, you can record yourself saying the quotes and listen to it on the bus or you can make ‘pretty’ study sheets and read them over and over. It can make studying and learning more interesting.


Activity 9: Planning for the future nowACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to, develop self-discipline and set goals and ‘critically analyse self-discipline strategies and personal goals and consider their application in social and work-related contexts’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Objective: These activities aim to help students make short term and long term goals for themselves.

Activity: The initial activity brainstorming is ‘Why is it important to set goals?’ Some answers could include:

o accountability

o motivation

o prioritising

o making it easier to measure progress

o break down huge tasks into manageable ‘chunks’

o creating a sense of purpose.

Short term goal setting: Students are to write two goals which will then made into SMART goals. Students complete the table and may need support in breaking down a general goal. A worked example is provided going from “I want to go to university” to “By the end of Term 1, I will have achieved at least 70% in my assessments by submitting drafts, using feedback to improve my work and creating good study habits.”

Long term goal setting: Students are given a choice about how they want to do this. They can write it down, create an online or paper based vision board or any other way they see fit. The activity is to “Imagine your future life – when you’re 25, 50, 75 – you choose the timeframe. What is the best possible life you can imagine? Think about all the areas of your life, such as your education, career, friends, family/relationships, finances, travel, your character and hobbies. What would happen in these areas of your life in your best possible future?”


If students are having trouble coming up with goals because they don’t know what to with their lives, the NSW Government has created a new site at https://www.lifelauncher.nsw.gov.au/. This website aims to help high school students achieve their career goals and links to vocational education and training and university study. It has interactive features to help students identify their strengths and career potential. Students can also create their own ‘pin board’ to collect information about their preferred courses. It also includes concise labour market information to help students understand the future potential of career and study choices.

https://www.lifelauncher.nsw.gov.au/

Key message: Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It gives you a sense of purpose and a way to achieve that purpose.

Activity 10: My Action PlanACARA reference: By the end of Year 10, students are expected to work independently and show initiative and ‘establish personal priorities, manage resources effectively and demonstrate initiative to achieve personal goals and learning outcomes’ (From the ACARA General capabilities - Personal and Social Capability - learning continuum).

Objective: This activity aims to give students a tangible, planned approach to achieving their SMART goals.

Activity: Students complete their personal action plan based on what they’ve learned about themselves and their goals over the unit. Students also need to address three key questions and make commitments to themselves. Students do not need to hand in their action plans

Activity 11: EvaluationObjective: This evaluation activity elicits student voice with students giving feedback on the unit. It also aids planning for future wellbeing program for the cohort. Students need to hand these in and facilitators should reflect on and enact (where possible) the feedback they provide.


| NSW Department of Education

Year 10 unit: Leading my learning

Name: ___________________________________________

Class: ___________________________________________

education.nsw.gov.au

School: ___________________________________________

2 Year 10 “Leading my learning” student resource

Unit overview and objectivesThis unit is designed to support your learning and wellbeing with strengths-based activities which will:

support your social and emotional wellbeing help you build and value your strengths, skills and potential help you think about your thinking and support you in positive self-talk.

In order to become leaders of your learning, you must understand yourself as a learner. This unit supports you to build your own capacity through elements of ACARA’s personal and social capabilities: self-awareness, self-management and social-management.

We want to recognise your strengths and expertise. Everyone here is a teacher and a learner. Everyone has something to contribute and everyone can learn. The teachers are here to guide and facilitate the discussion, but you, as leaders of your own learning, are recognised experts in yourselves.

Reflections are included in most of the activities. This has been done to help you think about your thinking as well as provide feedback on the learning to both you and your teacher. You do not have to share your reflections, but sharing them with the group and the teacher might help someone else’s thinking or shape your own.

Contents

Activity 1: The value of positive self-talk.....................................................................................3

Activity 2: Knowing my strengths...............................................................................................5

Homework activity: Practicing my strengths.................................................................................6

Activity 3: Managing what other people see.................................................................................7

Activity 4: Recognising my emotions..........................................................................................9

Activity 5: My strengths in different contexts..............................................................................10

Activity 6: Practicing self-care.................................................................................................11

Activity 7: Building resilience..................................................................................................13

Activity 8: My learning preferences..........................................................................................14

Activity 9: Planning for the future now......................................................................................17

Activity 10: My Action Plan....................................................................................................22

Activity 12: Evaluation..........................................................................................................24

© NSW Department of Education, May-23



Activity 1: The value of positive self-talk

Read the speech bubble above. Your friend has said something really positive to you! Think about what you would THINK in response and write it down in the space below (Please note: What you think may not be what you would actually say in this situation)

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Were your thoughts positive or negative? __________________________________

What could be a possible reason behind your way of thinking? __________________

________________________________________________________________________

Your thoughts about yourself are called ‘self-talk’. Our self-talk impacts our self-esteem and wellbeing. Positive self-talk is not self-deception; it’s choosing to grow and learn from your experiences, including your mistakes. No one is perfect and no one expects you to be perfect. By replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk, your self-esteem will improve and you will feel more in control of your life and your goals.

Scenario: You got 40% for your latest maths test. You usually get around 70%.

Positive self-talk: “I’ve passed all the other ones. Mistakes are an opportunity to learn. I’ll go home and work through the test and see if I can figure out the right answers. If not, I’ll ask someone for help! I’ll prepare better next time. I can learn from this experience.”

Negative self-talk: “I’m no good at maths. I’m dropping it next year. I’m just dumb.”


You

Your artwork is awesome! You’re so

talented.

Your friend

Work with the person next to you and work out some examples of positive self-talk.

Negative self-talk Positive self-talk

I’ve never been good at art.

I have no friends.

I’m never going to get this right.

I never get picked in sports games.

Time to reflect – write your thoughts in the space below

Do I do more positive self-talk or negative self-talk?

How is negative self-talk affecting my life and my learning?

How can I help myself to see myself in a more positive light?

Where can I get support to help me see myself in a more positive way?

Key message: Most people love compliments. It’s nice to hear that someone noticed something positive about you and values you. But in the long term, relying on external praise to feel good about yourself can mean that you come to rely on other people’s approval. Your self-esteem shouldn’t just be based on others but on your own opinion of yourself. This is why positive self-talk is so important. In the next lesson we will be talking about character strengths. Do some research on what ‘character strengths’ means and what yours could be.


Activity 2: Knowing my strengthsThe table below has a list of character strengths (adapted from: Peterson and Seligman, 2004). As you read through the list, circle at least 3 that you identify as your strengths.

List of character strengths (adapted from: Peterson and Seligman, 2004)

Appreciation of beauty and excellenceBraveryCreativityCuriosityEnthusiasmFairnessForgivenessGratitudeHumilityHumourIntegrityKindness

LeadershipLoveLove of learningOpen-mindednessOptimismPerseverancePerspectivePrudence (being sensible)PurposeSelf-controlSocial intelligenceTeam work

Time to move: Find three other people who have chosen at least one of the strengths you chose.

Group discussion: In groups of 4, brainstorm the following questions.

How can you use your strengths to make you a better learner? There are no wrong answers.

Choose one character strength you would like to strengthen in yourself. Why is it important to you? How can you work on building this?


How can my character strengths enhance my learning?

What character strength do I most admire in others and why?


Homework activity: Practicing my strengthsChoose one of your identified strength to focus on every day for a week. Describe the strength and write 3-5 ways you could practice it every day.

For example: My strength is gratitude. Gratitude is the appreciation for the good things that happen in life.

How to use it every day: Tell someone you love them and how much you appreciate them

Thank a stranger that helps you for example, a bus driver, shop assistant or someone who holds a door open for you

Appreciate something beautiful you see on your way to school

Keep a gratitude journal: write down three things that have happened to you that you’re glad you experienced

Take pictures of things in your everyday life that make you smile.

My strength is _______________. This means __________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Ways I can practice is are: __________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Self-assessment and reflection tool

How many days did I practice my strength? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

What is the impact of focusing on and practicing my strength?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________


Activity 3: Managing what other people seeKey message: The most important thing is caring about what you think about yourself. However, it’s ok to care what other people think about you. It’s nice to get compliments. But you can’t rely on other people saying nice things to feel good about yourself. This must come from within you.

Watch: “You’re Wonderful”

Watch: “You’re Wonderful too”

Note: These videos are part of the NSW Anti-bullying Strategy. More information at: https://antibullying.nsw.gov.au/

Do other people see your strengths?The students in the “You’re Wonderful” videos didn’t know that others could see their strengths. Do you think people see yours? In activity 2, you identified your strengths. Now think about whether other people see them. Using the scale below, where 1 is ‘they do not see them’ and 5 is ‘they see them clearly’, plot how visible you think each of your strengths are to others. Try to practice positive self-talk during this exercise.

Strength 1: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5

Strength 2: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5

Strength 3: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5

Strength 4: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5

Homework: Redo this activity with a trusted friend, teacher or family member. Remember, you want them to tell the truth. This will give you a better understanding of how visible your strengths are to other people and how you can make your strengths more visible. When you have done this, complete the reflection below.

Name of friend / family member / teacher: ______________________

Strength 1: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5

Strength 2: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5

Strength 3: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5

Strength 4: ___________ 1 2 3 4 5


https://antibullying.nsw.gov.au/

https://youtu.be/oLp9Rls-ycs

https://youtu.be/ZoNfszh7NxU


How can I make my strengths more visible to others?

Optional activity: Paper fansInstructions

a) Get a pen and a piece of paper.b) Sit in a circle either on chairs or on the floor.c) Write your name at top of the paper and fold the paper under the name ensuring

that the name is still visible at the top.d) Pass it to the person on your right and take one from the person on your left.e) Write a positive comment about the person whose name is written at the top and

fold to cover the comment so that the next person can’t read it but can see the name. Don’t write about physical attributes.

f) Pass it to the person on your right.g) Repeat until the paper reaches the student with the name at the top.

Everyone now has a paper fan with comments written by their peers.


How did you feel reading the comments on the paper fan? Do the people in your class see the same strengths you see in yourself?


Activity 4: Recognising my emotionsHow we feel strongly influences the way we behave. Think about how different situations make you feel and fill in the sentences below.

Generally, when I spend time with my family, I feel _________________.

Generally, when I spend time with my friends, I feel _________________.

When I forget to do the washing-up and have to tell mum, I feel _______________.

When I forget to do homework and have to tell my teacher, I feel _______________.

When I get an award at school, I feel _________________.

When I get to school late because I woke up late, I feel _________________.

When I get to school late because my bus didn’t come, I feel _________________.

When I accidentally hurt someone, I feel _________________.

When I get a really good mark in an assessment task, I feel _________________.

When my friends go out together and don’t invite me, I feel _________________.

Key message: There are no good or bad emotions, but there are good and bad ways of expressing emotions. Being able to notice how you’re feeling is very important because it can help you understand why you feel a certain way. Emotional awareness simply means recognising, respecting and accepting your feelings as they happen. Don't judge your feelings — just keep noticing and naming them. How to recognise emotions:

1. practice paying attention to how you are feeling in different situations throughout the day.

2. rate how strong the feeling is on a scale of 1 – 10 (1= mild, 10 = strong)

3. notice how long the feelings last and how these feelings affect your behaviour.

4. share your feelings with your friends and family. This will help you put your feelings into words.

Time to reflect – write your thoughts in the space belowThink about a recent challenging/stressful situation for you. How did it make you feel?

How did those feelings affect your behaviour? Were you able to share those feelings with others?


Activity 5: My strengths in different contexts

Think about this: Are you the same person around your family members as you are with your friends? If you’re at work, do behave the same way as when you’re at school? How you behave differently in different contexts? Why?

Think about the roles you play in your everyday life. Are you a daughter? A grandson? An employee? Fill in some of the key roles you play in the table below.

YOUR ROLES

How would you use your character strengths in each of the roles you have identified?

For example, “As a friend, I use forgiveness when my friends accidentally hurt my feelings.”

1. ______________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________________

Class discussion: Which role do you think you’re most successful in? Give a reason if you can. How can you transfer success in one role to success in another? Take notes here.

Key message: ___________________________________________________________


Activity 6: Practicing self-careHabits/behaviours Not yet Sometimes Usually Always

Eating well-balanced meals

Getting enough rest and sleep (around 8 hours a night)

Exercising regularly (5 times a week for at least 30 minutes)

Communicating clearly and assertively

Using my sense of humour to get through difficult situations

Reflecting and thinking about my own thinking

Seeing mistakes as opportunities to learn

Seeking challenges and stepping out my comfort zone

Accepting feedback as advice rather than criticism

Practicing positive self-talk

Believing that I have control and ability to influence my own future positively

Practicing my strengths to make them stronger

Seeking out and maintaining at least two close per-sonal friends

Setting some time aside for ‘down’ time every day that doesn’t involve screen time

Having some recreation time every week

Getting organised to manage stress

Asking for help when I need it

Doing mindfulness activities

Resolving issues with friends / peers / family mem-bers

Current research strongly links the state of wellbeing with all aspects of learning and achievement. The following lists common habits and behaviours that show you’re taking care of your physical, emotional and social wellbeing. Reflect and rate yourself for each of the following statements.



How are you practicing self-care? (Use the table above to inform your opinion)

How could practicing self-care help you at school and in your personal life?

What are two things you would like to start doing for yourself that you’re not doing yet?

Draw pictures of how you feel right now and how you feel after practicing self-care

Key message: Taking care of yourself is about finding and restoring balance to your life. Spend time on you –looking after your physical, social and emotional wellbeing. The next activity is about building resilience. Being resilient is a lot easier when you take care of yourself.


Activity 7: Building resilienceResilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties and a very important skill to develop. It’s hard to be resilient when you’re tired, hungry or stressed. In the last activity, we learned that taking care of yourself and learning to relax is very important. You have the power to build your own resilience. Greater resilience leads to improved learning, academic achievement and general happiness in life.

Resilience isn’t about having an easy life, it’s about experiencing all of the negative, difficult, and distressing events that life throws at you and staying on task, high-functioning and optimistic. If we never come across disappointment, we won’t learn how to deal with it.

A good way to develop resilience is by being able to make realistic plans in times of adversity and take steps to carry them out. We will be working on that in the final lesson of this series.

The following are some ways to develop resilience:a) make positive connections and build your social support network.b) see challenges as temporary and something you can overcome.c) accept that change is normal and unavoidable.d) set and move towards achievable goals.e) take decisive action that will help you face your challenges.f) practice positive self-talk and work on building your strengths.g) keep things in perspective and in context.h) maintain a hopeful outlook on life.i) take care of yourself..

Think of a time you were faced with a difficult situation. Did you use any of the steps above? Write about the situation and the steps you took to overcome it.


Activity 8: My learning preferencesHere are some strategies for learning. We will be thinking about good study strategies.

A Type of learning Examples

V Visual Learning Information presented visually in diagrams, drawings, maps, graphs, charts, flow charts etc.

A Auditory Learning Learning through listening and talking to others.

R Reading and Writing Learning

Learning through reading and writing texts with information be-ing presented as written words.

K Kinaesthetic Learning Learning through doing, for example, experiments, making models, playing a game or practical tasks.

The following is a short questionnaire which shows what kind of learning style you prefer. This is more of a fun activity than scientific proof but it will help guide your thinking.

Instructions: Circle the answer or answers you feel best applies to you.

You may circle more than one.

I need to memorise a speech from a play. To do this I would:

o highlight and underline key words in the speech using different colourso record myself saying it and listen to it repeatedlyo write it over and over again until I remember ito act out the speech in front of the mirror

I want to learn how to use a new computer program. To do this I would:

o follow step-by-step diagrams in a booko talk to someone who knows how to use it and asking them questionso reading a website on how the program workso start using it and figure it out for myself

My teacher is handing back our tests and offers feedback. I would prefer to have the feedback:

o in the form of graphs of what I have achieved compared to my previous testso verbally with the teacher sitting with me and explaining how I can improve


o in writing with some strategies for how I can improveo using examples of what I have done and what a good answer looks like

I like websites that have:

o interesting visuals and visual effectso interesting information and articles in printo podcastso things I can click on and do

I need to do a project to show I understand the main themes of a poem. I would prefer to:

o create a PowerPoint about main themes of the poem using pictures / graphicso make a podcast about the poem and its main themeso read other poems with similar theme and write how they compare and contrasto present a dramatic reading of the poem with hand actions and movements

I have to create an artwork to show my learning. I would:

o go online and look at other artworks for ideaso talk to friends about what I could makeo read some websites about how to show meaning through art and make noteso make something I’ve made before but improve it

I have to do a group assignment for PDHPE with three classmates. I would start by:

o creating a flowchart to describe roles and how to do themo having a discussion about what everyone needs to doo writing lists of everyone’s responsibilitieso setting a time for everyone to meet and just let it happen

Tally up your responses in the table below.

A = B = C = D =

Mainly A’s suggests you like information to be presented visually. Mainly B’s suggests you like information to be presented through speaking and

listening. Mainly C’s suggests you like information to be presented through reading and writing

words.


Mainly D’s suggests you like information to be presented by ‘doing’ something. A mix of them all suggests you like information presented in different ways.

Think about this: Why did we do this survey? What percentage of the group got a mix of A, B, C and D’s? Do a quick tally. Is it over 80%?

Rather than thinking about yourself as being ONE kind of learner, see yourself as having a toolbox of different ways to think, present and receive information. Think to yourself – which tool is best for this activity?

Current research shows that VARK shows you how you LIKE to communicate but not necessarily what your strengths lie in. Try a range of different strategies when studying at home. When you have choice in how you present information try to combine how you like doing it (to keep your interest and motivation levels up) with what your strengths are in (to keep your marks up).


Do you use a variety of strategies to think, learn, present and receive information?

Why is it useful to use more than one?

How could this be used to help you study more effectively?

What’s one new way of learning that you learned today that you might like to try?


The next activity is about goal setting. Thinking about new ways of learning/studying can help you achieve your goals.


Activity 9: Planning for the future nowSetting goals: Why is it important to set goals? Brainstorm as a group.

Short term goal settingA SMART goal is used to help guide goal setting. They help focus your efforts and increase your chances of achieving that goal.

Top tip: Keep your strengths in mind when setting SMART goals

S – Specific: be specific what the goal is and why.

M – Measurable: include milestones that can be ticked off.

A – Achievable: believe that the goal can and will be accomplished.

R – Realistic: ensure the process is thought through and easy to follow.

T – Time bound: set specific dates or term weeks by which the goal should be achieved.


Why do we set goals?

Sharpen your focus

SMART goal setting guide and tool

Example goal:I want to go to univer-

sity

Your first goal:

_______________________

Your second goal:

_______________________

S Specific What you want to achieve and/or improve on. what exactly will be the end res-ult? where, when and how will this happen? what do I want to accomplish?

I want to study a Bachelor of Nursing at university and need an ATAR of at least 70.

M Measurable Break your goal down into meas-urable parts. Ask yourself: what criteria will I use to know I have accomplished this goal? how much, or what percentage of the goal have I achieved? how will others know I have reached my goal?

I will get at least 70% in all my assessment tasks.


Example goal:I want to go to uni

Your first goal:_______________________

Your second goal:_______________________

A Attainable Be honest with yourself about what you can reasonably accomplish. You need to be able to take action. Make it achievable. Ask yourself: is this realistic in my current (and known future) situation? what resources/help might be needed? do I need others to help me?

I will submit at least 1 draft and get teacher feedback in Term 1.

R Realistic It has to be do-able, real and prac-tical. Ask yourself: how is this related to my study habits how does this improve/change things for me? can others help me?

I will complete assign-ments one week before they are due.

T Timed When will you complete your goal?Ask yourself: when will this be achieved by? are there steps to achieving this? Is this realistic?

By Term 2, it will be nor-mal practice for me to draft assignments before the due date.

SMART GOAL: By the end of Term 1, I will have achieved at least 70% in my assessments by submitting drafts, using feedback to improve my work and creating good study habits.

© NSW Department of Education, May-23 23

Using the information from the table on the previous two pages, write your two SMART goals.

SMART goal example: By the end of Term 1, I will have achieved at least 70% in my assessments by submitting drafts, using feedback to improve my work and creating good study habits.

YOUR SMART GOAL 1:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

YOUR SMART GOAL 2:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Long term goal settingIt’s time to think about your future. You’ve been given two choices, but if there’s a third one you’d like to explore, talk to your teacher about doing it your way.

Choice 1: Writing task

Imagine your future life – when you’re 25, 50, 75 – you choose the timeframe. What is the best possible life you can imagine? Think about all the areas of your life, such as your education, career, friends, family/relationships, finances, travel, your character and hobbies. What would happen in these areas of your life in your best possible future?

For the next 15 minutes, write continuously about what you imagine this best possible future to be. Use the instructions below to help guide you through this process.

Do this on a separate piece of paper. You don’t have to hand it in unless you want to but you need to show your teacher that it’s been completed.

Be specific – if you’re thinking about health, imagine what you want, for example, to be able to compete in triathlons by the time you’re 25 and going around the world competing. Think about what your perfect future would be like.

Don’t worry right now HOW you’re going to achieve all this – this isn’t the purpose. It’s just having a dream for yourself. Don’t worry about the past or the present, just dream about the long-term future.

Be as creative and imaginative as you want, and don’t worry about grammar or spelling.


Choice 2: Vision board

Work individually to create a vision board using cardboard and pictures from old magazines or using an online platform such as Pintrest.

Instructions to create a vision board:

Think of all the areas in your life that are important to you such as education, career, friends, family/relationships, finances, travel, your character and hobbies.

In each area of your life, find 3-5 things that you desire. For example: Education – going to university or TAFE, completing an apprenticeship straight after school or after a gap year.

Be as specific as you can.

Once you have some clear ideas, it’s time to start looking for the images or drawing.

You can create the vision board in any way that you want – online, on paper, in a notebook.

Review your vision board regularly to keep track of what you’ve achieved and what you should focus on.

Choice 3: Your choice: __________________________________________________


Activity 10: My Action PlanYou are a leader – a leader of your own learning. Australian research shows a connection between academic achievement and self-regulated learning in students. Successful students set challenging goals for themselves, reflect on their plans and adapt them when needed.

Your final activity is to create an action plan for your learning based on your SMART goals, informed by your strengths and inspired by your vision of your future self.

Step 1: Complete the table on the next page.

Step 2: After you’ve finished the action plan, reflect upon the following three questions:

Where will you keep your action plan? It needs to be somewhere visible.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

How often will you check and update it?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

How often will you revisit your goals?

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________


_________________________’s action plan

SMART Goal 1:

Which of my character strengths can help me with this goal and how?

What challenges might I experience while trying to achieve this goal?

How can I overcome these challenges?

What support would I need to achieve this goal? Who would be able to support me?

What steps will you take to achieve each goal?

SMART Goal 2:

Which of my character strengths can help me with this goal and how?

What challenges might I experience while trying to achieve this goal?

How can I overcome these challenges?

What support would I need to achieve this goal? Who would be able to support me?

What steps will you take to achieve each goal?


Activity 12: EvaluationThe following is a list of outcomes from this unit. How well do you feel you

achieved these outcomes? (Tick the boxes that applies to you).

Outcomes Achieved Partially achieved

Not achieved

I would like to learn more about this

1: The value of positive self-talk

2: Knowing my strengths

Homework: Practicing my strengths

3: Managing what other people see

4: Recognising my emotions

5: My strengths in different contexts

6: Practicing self-care

7: Building resilience

8: My learning preferences

9: Planning for the future now

10: My Action Plan

Two stars and a wish for my teacher

List 2 things the unit does really well.

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

List 1 thing the unit could improve upon.

________________________________________________________________________

Name/describe one activity you really enjoyed and give at least one reason why.

________________________________________________________________________

Name/describe one activity you really did not enjoy and give at least one reason why.

________________________________________________________________________

Share some ideas on how to make this unit more engaging.

________________________________________________________________________

How will I use what I’ve learned in the future? __________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Please hand this sheet into your teacher. Thank you for your feedback!


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